This being my mum’s first long-haul flight, jet-lag was a new experience for her and the senior moments now had a valid excuse.

Unfortunately, Crowded house said it best when they said “Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you” and it pissed down the entire visit bar the first day. Chuck in a badly researched holiday “Cottage” which would’ve looked perfectly at home on the set of 8 Mile, and it was a less than typical Aussie experience for them. Next time, I’ll book better weather, I reckon.

The idea is to get rather drunk and walk around the flat with your hand around the bottle whilst mustering your deepest voice and saying “I’M A GIAAANT!”. Hours of fun if not a little pointless.

Now, anyone expecting the grace and athleticism of the NBA might as well stop reading now cos the Australian game is pretty physical and a slightly lower standard in refereeing means that the odd push, punch and shove along with a few travelling errors go regularly unnoticed. The crowd’s a passionate bunch too and it felt a bit like Scunny away to Millwall, only this time I was on the louder side.

Anyhow it was game 3 of a best of five finals series against Melbourne with each team having won 1 game. The Kings were down by 12 in the 4th and somehow managed to claw their way back to the lead before losing in the final couple of minutes – tragic defeat but they won again last night in Melbourne which means that they have a homecourt advantage for the 5th and final game tomorrow, which unfortunately, I will have to listen to on the radio as we have guests for dinner. In short, I’m hooked and will definitely get a season ticket next year, I reckon – Let’s go, Sydney, let’s Go!

I was fortunate enough to get caught up in the final Sydney departure of this mariners miracle on my way home from work. My ferry also passed through the water cannons and yacht parades that had lined up to wish the old bird well before she sets permanent anchor in Dubai as a floating hotel – which I already thought she was – maybe I’m missing something there. I’m sure that there will be a vast fleet of ships moored beside her in her new home to house the colossal air conditioning capable of freezing an entire nation that seems to be the Dubai way but I’m sure she will welcome the rest as she’s looking a little rough around the edges and in need of a quick coat of Hammerite (which I’m assured is the preferred coating for seaworthy vessels). Anyhow it’s an end of an era and it was also a great end to a less than average day which I’m glad to say that I’ll remember with fond memory for some time.

I was pretty certain that we’d been more ruthless than this but it would appear that the last minute rush has contributed heavily to our first Australian ‘Hard Rubbish Day’. Why I still have most of my uni books is a mystery and they are soon to become the latest addition to the local charity shop. Cath’s rollerblades look better than when we packed them after their steam clean courtesy of the Australian Customs department which she is very happy about. We’ve now got lots of pictures to put on the walls though which should start making Chez Shilleds Deux look more like a real home.

Having spent a measly $30 on Kayak hire, Cath and I, along with a couple of mates paddled across the harbour to a little cove known as Milk Beach (introduced to us as ‘Mulk Beach’ by our friendly South African boat master) to swim among the rocks and take in the boat and air shows taking place over our new home. The only pomp and circumstance you’ll find on this public holiday lies in beer, relaxation and just generally having a laugh with everyone (especially when you fall out of the boat… twice). A quick sleep in the park followed by a brief stop at the fish market to pick up some giant Tuna steaks and we’re set to finish off our very first Australia day with a couple of tinnies and an obligatory Barbie. You beaut!

Having camped out at the point for 9 hours with a large portion of the UK’s sport ‘science’ students, I can say that I’m glad we went down to see the fireworks but reckon we’ll try something different next time. Quite frankly, I missed the toboggans.

However, this new year is looking like it’s going to be a cracker as I start my exciting new job next week and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

As I dismount from my high horse, I would like to point out the cutest Christmas Stockings in the southern hemisphere alongside an enormous pile of Christmas goodies that arrived in various shipments from Sue and Terry (thanks, guys). This has become our Christmas Tree of sorts as the traditional spruce just doesn’t fit in with the fruit bats and cockatoos.

Anyhow, with only one present left to buy and a mammoth gingerbread fiasco to reproduce, we’re almost there and it won’t be long before we wake up and smell the Turducken.

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks here as Cath and I have both been going interview crazy and trying to manage the cross-Atlantic Christmas shopping by any which way possible. I am glad to report that we have both secured ourselves new jobs for the new year and can’t wait to get stuck in.

I have finished freelancing for the holidays and as a result, have had a bit of time to put together some of the photos that we’ve been taking. Facebookers might find it easier to have a look at my profile whilst those of you shying away from the revolution can have a gander with these links…
Moving in, Cremorne Walk, Toronga Zoo, Random Sydney pics.

I’m sure you’ll join me in Congratulating Mum and Dad and wishing a very merry Christmas to a future England forward.

I doubt that line would have bedded James Bond quite as many swooning secretaries and femme fatale’s had he chosen to use it over his preferred catchphrases. However, if he wanted to drive a car in New South Wales after 3 months of living there with a UK driving licence, that’s what he’d need.

I have one, and by my own special brand of logic, that makes me better than James Bond which is very exciting indeed although doesn’t grant me the same allowances of indiscriminate murder which is quite the relief I can tell you. All that power could go to my already oversized noggin and that just wouldn’t do!

As far as the election itself is concerned, I have no advice for anyone who is undecided other than my own election campaign of, ‘Keep Duncan working… Vote Labor’ – It’s as good a reason as any!

The view is by far and away, the best thing about this place and even though we have Mike’s old TV set (courtesy of the 80′s drama series, ‘Dynasty’), watching the boats come in and out of the harbour takes up most of our viewing time. The walk to the ferry takes a meagre 5 minutes, although you can double this for the return journey due to the 84 steps and the uphill climb all the way which is having a slight effect on the muffin top already. Even better than all of this however, is the ferry trip to and from work. My ‘commute’ takes me past the Prime ministerial Kirribilli residence before peeling away in dramatic fashion to reveal the opera house and harbour bridge a few seconds after – unbelievable!

Sydney rocks!

If you’re reading this blog, then you will most likely know the details and I’m not about to write everything down here; suffice to say that Cath is out of hospital now and attacking the rental market with all her energy (and yes, I am making sure she rests).

Anyway, for records’ sake, I thought I’d post a piccie of my lovely lady, smiling away in her penthouse hospital room – great views of the city; crappy kitchen facilities.

It’s a bit different to the UK as all the ‘Units’ are pretty crumby if you expect to find somewhere cheap enough to afford you such luxuries as food and clothing on top of your rental outgoings.

Viewings are a different affair too as you get a 10-15 minute slot to view one of these overpriced boxes, usually on a Saturday morning and with around 20 other happy unit hunting folk. Cath has pointed out that this is an excellent way to see how many people you could invite to a party though so there’s a plus, I guess!

So here’s the news… We arrived in Sydney, jet lagged, disoriented and unemployed at 6am on Friday morning and since then, other than sleeping and eating, we’ve managed to get our bank accounts up and running, Tax File Numbers applied for, property viewings booked AND I start my first contract job tomorrow – how crazy is that!??!

Other than that… actually, there is no other than that, what did you expect for less than a weeks’ worth of work, eh?

Until next time…

Not much to report, just wanted an excuse to attach this photo of Ethan, trying on ‘Grandpa Bailey’s’ bike helmet.

The house went on the market late last Tuesday night and by the following Friday, a 1 year let was agreed. Now we have to clear all our remaining crap over the next two days so that our first tenants can move in on Friday this week. I can’t quite believe it myself but it would appear (touching wood, crossing fingers and standing on one foot as I type this) that it IS that simple.

We have also completed the Scunthorpe leg of the farewell tour in which I learned that bowling is more a game of sibling rivalry than one of skill and athletic prowess, that a KFC in the hand is worth 2 meals in Shepherds Bush and that the Red Lion in Redbourne is a cracking little place to have lunch and play darts really badly with your mum. Now that’s the sort of info that Time Out should sit up and take note of – I’d probably read it if they did.

My longest serving friend, Paul and his missus, Kristy were greeted by their first son, Klark, whilst we were there but alas, the jobsworth nurse/Nazi warden at Scunthorpe general wouldn’t let us in to see them before we drove back to London so you’ll have to wait for the ‘does he look more like his mum or his dad?’ verdict until I get a piccy sent over.

A very late Thursday evening was well spent dressing the house up for the lettings photographer and as soon as we have those pics, I’ll chuck em up here but you’ll have to make do with the following link of random shots I’ve been taking for your first taste of the former chéz Shilleds that is 23 Everdon Road.
Click here to view the pics…

Yes, we have hit the first building hurdle of project Oz.

Our builder, Gary, is replacing the kitchen roof and overlapped the tarps the wrong way round which would have been fine had it not rained for the first time in ages in torrential spurts! Anyhow, the rain kept a coming and the buckets kept a filling but I think we’ve just about gotten away with having to replace the floors and a very embarrassed Gary informed us that there was no extra charge for the indoor swimming pool so that’s all good.

At the risk of setting a jynx, this should hopefully be the only setback – fingers crossed.

The weekend has been spent lifting and shifting tiles, sawing my desk in half and chucking stuff down the skip – all in a blistering 35 degree summers day. Being a chubby desk jockey, my limbs now feel like lead and I’m slightly worried that this might impair my valuable drinking arm which may come in useful next week as it’s my last week of work at RMG.

Cathy’s project management skills have been out in force and she’s been doing a cracking job of getting people in on time, sorting out the ordering of everything and generally keeping us ticking over superbly.

Carpet man is booked in for the end of August and we need to get the decorator off standby and firmly booked in before then so hopefully, the good progress will continue. Still need to find a floor sanding company but if push comes to shove, it’ll be me and my Bosch (well, I’ll probably borrow Terry’s cos it’s shinier).

Half an hour of me pretending to be a croupier counting poker chips and Cathy using various counting styles resulted in a tidy wee sum for us to buy our wishes that had also been dropped into the pot – (Although, Cathy contaminated mine by dropping in little ‘I wish to buy my lovely wife loads of shoes’ notes).

Sunday was Nat’s 30th and we managed to negotiate the rainy weather with style once again, having the final burgers off the BBQ seconds before a raging mini thunderstorm. Ethan’s constructive advice for rain dodging was clear and concise – “THUNDER! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”.

Cath is now officially employed in a part time capacity and is getting all her jewellery together for the upcoming international sales bonanza that is the ‘Barnes Fair’ so, fingers crossed, the misery stricken GMTV weather girl has got it right and Saturday will be the only day in the near future where we don’t get washed away by the rain.

My head is still in Turkey (as is my stomach) and I’m struggling to get back into work again but, this being my first post, I’ll try not to get too carried away and end my writing here. Until next time…